Never Say Never
by GoldenGrace
Summary: Mika does what she vowed never to do. (Alt. Tag to 4.14: "The Grove")


**Disclaimer: I do not own "The Walking Dead" in any way unfortunately.**

A/N: This one-shot is an alternate version of how events in Episode 4.14: "The Grove" could have happened. - GG

Never Say Never

_She hadn't meant to. She certainly hadn't planned on doing it, and when Carol and Tyreese returned all she could do was point at her sister's body lying on the ground, feeling the blood drip from her fingertips and her tears roll down her face._

"_What have you done?" Carol breathed in anguish, and Tyreese shook his head in disbelief before scooping Judith up into his arms and away from her._

"_She started it," She explained, still pointing at her sister. "I didn't mean to. _She_ started it."_

Before_…_

"That's stupid."

"No, it's not. Maybe, you're just stupid, Lizzie," Mika defended, sticking her tongue out for effect.

"Well, it's still stupid, Mika. You can't just close your eyes and wish for things to happen," Lizzie replied haughtily.

"Why not? You can when it's your birthday, and I _know_ Daddy forgot my birthday last year. So, I'm due a wish."

"I'm telling you. It doesn't work like that."

"Well, I'm going to try anyways," Mika declared, bringing her hands up to her hips before stomping away.

She skirted around the edge of the porch railing before scurrying up the steps and going inside. The screen door clattered closed behind her, and Mika plucked up her newfound doll. She smiled at the thought of owning stuff again, not that she put much importance in material things, but Mika still like the idea of having something that was hers.

Mika had her red-haired doll named Griselda Gunderson after her neighbor who had passed away when she was little whom despite looking old still had thick red hair pulled up in combs away from her wrinkly face. The doll had been rescued from under the recliner Tyreese had taken to relaxing in after he couldn't prop up the footrest the first night at the house. The dirty doll had been wedged in the chair awkwardly and preventing it from functioning properly. After Tyreese slammed his hand and muttered a curse word he had told her not to repeat in order to yank the doll free, she had been more than happy to keep Griselda as company since.

However, it wasn't just Mika and Tyreese who had claimed things around the house they had been staying at. Carol had fawned over the gas oven for nearly ten minutes before Tyreese had laughed and asked if she was going to use it or hug it. Carol had made a joke about women being in the kitchen which both adults had laughed about, and though she didn't fully understand the punchline, Mika was glad they were happy. That very night, Carol had taught them to shell pecans and roast them while even Judith laid claim to her small part of the house, sleeping soundly in her rickety doll bassinet Lizzie and she had been tasked with beating against the side of the house in hopes of cleaning off.

Pulling Griselda to her chest as she sat cross-legged on the bed she and Lizzie had been sharing, Mika bit her lip, realizing she didn't have one wish to make. She had two, and she felt her original plan foil as she tried to figure out a way to make them both work, considering every knew you only received one wish for their birthday most certainly if it was cashed in late. Mika wanted them all to stay in the house and stay there forever until they were old and wrinkly like Mrs. Gunderson had been. The thought had inspired her decision to make a wish so that what she wanted _had_ to come true, but now she knew it wouldn't work if they all didn't have something that was theirs. It wasn't fair to leave someone out, and she certainly didn't want her sister of all people to feel left out.

Lizzie needed something that was hers too. She needed a reason to want to stay at the little house, so that when Mika asked Carol and Tyreese if they had given more thought to her idea about staying put, Lizzie didn't disagree and call her stupid again. They were a family Mika decided, and just like on Sunday afternoons with her parents, Lizzie, and their big brother when they all had to decide on a restaurant to eat at after church, the decision to stay had to be unanimous.

Thinking hard, Mika looked around the dusty bedroom and abandoned Griselda on the bed as she began to rifle through drawers full of clothes and shelves covered with dusty books and boring knickknacks. There was nothing special that Lizzie would cherish, and Mika was going to give up when she had the idea to open the closet. However, opening the sliding door was futile as a cascade of clothes and other items fell at her feet and nearly toppled her.

Aggravated and knowing Carol and Tyreese would return soon, she peaked out the smudged window, looking to Lizzie and wondering what her big sister would possibly want. Lizzie sat in the grass still with Judith on her baby blanket beside her as Lizzie picked flowers, and Mika smiled brightly, feeling overjoyed when the idea came to her. She had discovered exactly what Lizzie would want. In fact, her sister had discovered it herself.

Lizzie loved flowers, and the wildflowers around the house were enough to last for a lifetime. With everyone having something that was theirs then the house in the grove could truly be theirs if only they tried to make it a home Mika thought. They could make it work, but hoping to speed things up in case God or whoever listened nowadays had another plan, Mika crossed her fingers and made her wish, closing her eyes and shutting out the sight of her sister and Judith among the flowers. When she opened her eyes not a split second later, the pleasant sight was already a distant memory.

Something was ambling through the brush in the distance, and fearful for Lizzie and Judith, Mika rushed from the house without care to Griselda who was left to lay limp on the unmade bed Carol had told them to make before she returned though neither sister had.

"Lizzie!" She screeched in panic at hearing the familiar snarl grow closer, and she grabbed for her gun before remembering it was out of bullets.

"What?" Lizzie looked up at her indifferently, still gathering her bouquet.

"There's a walker," She whispered loudly and pointed to the tree line.

"I know."

"We need to go inside. Grab Judy."

"No."

"Wh-what?" Mika stammered in confusion and looked around wildly for any sign of more walkers converging on them.

"I said no. It won't hurt us."

"Yes it will!" She cried desperately.

"Mika, it's okay."

"No it isn't."

The walker emerged from the brush, and frightfully, Mika lunged for Judith. The baby was the closest to danger, and Mika felt tears well in her eyes at the thought of Judith dying. They had buried a baby at the prison only a few weeks before after he had gotten sick, and she didn't want to see that again. It wasn't fair for babies to die.

However, Lizzie stopped her, and Mika's heart beat wildly at the sight of her sister standing between her and Judith with her knife drawn. Lizzie looked at her angrily, absentmindedly dropping her bouquet of flowers in her opposite hand.

"Lizzie, we have to take Judith inside," She cried fearfully, not quite sure why her sister was holding the knife toward her and not the walker shuffling closer from across the overgrown yard.

"It'll be fine, Mika. You'll see, and Carol will see and Tyreese too. It'll be okay. As long as it doesn't hurt our brains," Lizzie said confidently.

"That's stupid! Give me your knife, Lizzie…_maybe_—maybe, I can kill it," She gulped.

Mika was fearful of her own suggestion but nevertheless stepped forward to take Lizzie's knife. She had never killed a walker with a knife at least not with the security of the fence between her and it, and even then she had gotten in trouble by Carl's dad along with the other kids for not being inside the perimeter of the inner fence like they were supposed to be. She had always used her gun, but knowing they were all in danger, Mika tried hard to remember everything Carol had taught in story time about how to wield the weapon.

Determined, Mika frowned when Lizzie pulled her arm to stop her.

"What're you doing?"

"You can't kill her! I won't let you."

"Lizzie, it's not alive. It's not a person," Mika said in exasperation.

She had always known her sister was different. She had seen the line of Lizzie's orange prescription bottles with white caps. Mika knew why Lizzie hadn't attended soccer practices on Wednesdays before the outbreak in order to see her therapist. Lizzie had problems. She was messed up for some reason that made her think strangely and act strangely, and without all her pills, Mika knew Lizzie hadn't been thinking quite right since the fever first began over a year before.

All Lizzie's problems had messed up her head again. Yet, Mika was still surprised when her sister pushed her back suddenly with the knife aimed at her. Lizzie had never hurt her before. Mika's pulse was erratic, but she reacted without thinking and pushed right back. Together they fell into a heap on the wildflowers with Lizzie straddling her from above. Her sister's eyes appeared both angry and excited, and Mika struggled to get away.

"What're you doing, Lizzie!"

"You can't kill her!"

"Lizzie, get off me!" Mika screamed, and though she couldn't see, she heard Judith erupt in a cry.

"I won't hurt your brain. I promise," Lizzie said, nodding vehemently.

Lizzie plunged downward, and afraid, Mika finally found her strength to push her sister off her. However, the consequence wasn't what she was expecting. Her sister was angered even more, and thinking of the walker and Judith, Mika grabbed her sister's knife that had been flung from her grasp. She didn't anticipate Lizzie to lunge at her again before either of them had righted themselves with their knees and elbows still buried in the dirt.

The knife's blade slipped through Lizzie's upper leg seamlessly, and as she cried, Lizzie's pants were covered with red blood. Mika looked on in confusion, staring between her sister who had fallen to the ground and the blood dripping down her hand as she examined what she had unwittingly done. She barely registered the single shot of a rifle in the distance, having forgotten about Carol and Tyreese hunting most likely for the same deer she had let get away after saying she would never kill a living thing. She didn't even notice the walker whose attention was diverted from them toward the gunshot and changed paths, leaving them in relative safety once again.

All Mika saw was red, and she felt the weight of the knife fall from her palm and heard it land with a light thud in the flowers at her feet. Lizzie's jeans were soaked, and the blood stained the flowers around her. Taking shallow breaths, Lizzie looked at her own hand that had gripped at her wound reflexively and found it covered in blood. In shock from her actions, Mika watched Lizzie rubbed her thumb and forefinger together as she peered at her blood with interest before looking at Mika.

"It's okay, Mika," Lizzie assured her. "You didn't hurt my brain."

Lizzie said nothing else, and Mika was numb as her sister's chest heaved a few last shuddery breaths before stopping altogether. Still in shock, Mika didn't hear the footsteps approaching. She had nearly forgotten Judith's presence altogether until the baby cried out at Carol and Tyreese's return. Mika turned around to face them slowly, pointing at Lizzie and vaguely wondering if they could fix her yet knowing it was too late. Her sister was gone, and she had killed her.

"What have you done?" Carol asked as Tyreese picked up Judith.

"She started it," Mika cried in explanation as she pointed at Lizzie. "I didn't mean to. _She _started it."


End file.
